Where established rivals might rely on a network of other companies for supplies, storage, shipping, and delivery personnel, firms like Milkrun are vertically integrated – meaning they source their own food, store it in their own warehouses, and rely on their own network of cyclists to get it quickly to your door.

The Obsess survey also found that nearly 75% of Gen Z shoppers have purchased a digital item within a video game and that 60% of these young shoppers think that brands should sell their products on metaverse platforms. Among Gen Zers who think brands should sell in the metaverse, 54% reasoned that people should be able to shop anywhere they go online, while 45% indicated that metaverse environments should be like online shopping malls.

Ocado believes that its new approach to robot production will result in significant packaging efficiency improvements, all while slashing day-to-day operating costs.

Just the convenience of placing an order at home and having items brought to one’s home is no longer enough to set an eGrocer apart in the crowded category today. Even the qualities that were at the cutting edge not long ago — past-behavior-informed reordering options, for instance — are no longer enough to stay at the forefront of the space.

On-demand grocery delivery services are the current European startup craze. There are now dozens of companies offering to deliver bananas, birthday cakes and booze within 15 minutes in cities across the continent. Adverts for their apps are plastered across buses and billboards, and their couriers are familiar sights in city centres. But the ‘dark stores’ which fulfil customers’ orders are a whole lot more mysterious — even though there are now hundreds across Europe, and dozens more opening every month.

The final leg of a package’s journey to its destination, known as the “last mile,” is often the most inefficient of the entire trip. That’s because packages are usually divided into several different gas-fueled vehicles headed in different directions, often into traffic-filled city centers, decreasing delivery speed and increasing the environmental toll.

In a presentation from Ocado’s home city of London, executives laid out several new technology updates to its Ocado Smart Platform aimed at lowering costs and getting more same-day orders out to shoppers. All of the updates will be going live this year and be able to fully integrate into partner companies' fulfillment centers by the end of next year, said Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group.

While the Tesla robot could be years away and may never come to fruition, Musk said Wednesday it does have the potential to revolutionize the economy if it can perform tasks that can now only be carried out by humans.

In China, fierce competition and the promise of instant delivery drive delivery apps to seek a technological edge. Now Eleme, one of the main players, has rolled out a vast indoor detection system to track drivers and ensure that customers receive their food on time. Wireless advances and the explosion of connected devices—including smartphones—have made this system possible.

E-commerce revenue has surpassed physical sales for small businesses, new research shows, as the pandemic forced commerce online for good

There are lots of services that promise ingredients in ‘minutes’ but which ones actually deliver?

Unlike distribution centers, which are focused on receiving, storing and distributing product to Walmart stores, the company’s fulfillment centers are focused on storing millions of items that are picked, packed and shipped directly to customers as soon as next day

The world’s largest sporting goods retailer is an enthusiastic proponent of supporting front- and back-end operations with RFID technology.

This year's group of outstanding operators are on Progressive Grocer's radar for their way of innovating, differentiating and finding new approaches to serve their communities

It is estimated that 29% of all current workplace tasks are done by machines. This is expected to grow to 52% by 2025.

AutoStore attacked Ocado in a manner that appeared to be unprovoked, and they lost. Now, they need to go on the defensive. Ocado Group is firing back with a lawsuit in the United States that seeks to “prevent AutoStore from continuing to use its Blackline robot and its Router software system

Daniel Folkman, senior vice president of business at Gopuff, joined Cheddar to talk about the company's year of hypergrowth in 2021, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and what consumers can expect from the quick delivery market in 2022. He noted that the company's delivery sector performed at a high level this year but its e-commerce business is still in its infancy, with less than 10 percent of customers purchasing items sold by Gopuff. Folkman also talked about production expansion, including freshly-made pizza and milkshakes that people can order along with their cleaning supplies.

The results speak to the key trends of this year, propelled by coronavirus lockdowns: the speedy grocery boom, and the huge growth in ecommerce. Also notable this year — six of the top 10 are based in Germany.

Supply chain disruptions and a pandemic-driven bullwhip in orders made getting enough products to meet high demand difficult this year. In response, companies increased production, pulled forward orders and made other adjustments to build their inventories.